Swimming Finals at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain
Former Member
The finals of the first day, show:
.) in the men 400 meter free final, Thorpe (Aus.) went 3:42.58 for #1, Hackett (Aus.) went 3:45.17 for #2, and Coman (Rom.) went 3:46.8x for #3;
Coman -who is my fellow countryman, and I was telling you about him for years-, defeated Rossolini (Ita.) of the 2000 Olympics fame, Keller (U.S.) and Carvin (U.S.);
.) in the women 400 meter free final, Simona Paduraru (Rom.) finished #7, with a fast time;
.) in the 4x100 men free relay, Russia won;
the fastest split was by Frenchman Frederic Bousquet at 47.03 -which is the second fastest split in history-, and fast splits (in the 47s) were recorded by Alex. Popov (Rus.) and Jason Lezak (U.S.);
.) in the 4x100 women free relay, U.S. won, anchored by an ace 53.xx from Jenny Thompson (U.S.).
He! he! he! :D ho! ho! ho!
I post this, ahead of www.swiminfo.com and www.swimnews.com who are sandbagging...
Parents
Former Member
This moronic Biondi vs. Popov vs. everyone else “debate” has gone far enough! In an earlier discussion thread, I warned everyone about the impossibility of “proving” who is the “best” swimmer. I predicted that when you go there, you will inevitably run out of superlatives about your favorite swimmer, and start talking down everyone else’s. The end result will be a lot of people who don’t know jack, or a best very little more than jack, making a lot of spurious and asinine criticisms of almost incomprehensibly accomplished athletes. As if on cue, here we are in the midst of what has to be one of, if not the, fastest swim meet in history, and are we talking about it? No, or maybe just a little. What we actually are talking about is a Mighty Mouse vs. Batman debate.
Let me just cut to the bottom line for everyone: Biondi is a multiple event/multiple Olympian, former world record holding swimmer of historical importance. Popov is a multiple event/multiple Olympian, current world record holding swimmer of historical importance. Let that sink in for a minute…could any conceivable difference in their abilities (if such could be measured, given they did not swim exactly the same events, and one had greater opportunities than the other on relays) matter one iota given all that they both have accomplished?!!!
So what do people think about Grant Hackett’s 1500? Will he make a run at the world record? Will he be tired enough for the rest of the field to make things interesting? And about Michael Phelps, other than being in the pool at the same time Ian Crocker was having his “Misty Hyman moment,” Phelps has done everything, and more, to earn the title of Superman or Spitz this meet. He has broken the old world record in every one of his events (twice in some). Think he has a sub-4:10 in him for tonight’s final in the 400 IM? And what about the U.S. Medley Relays. Was Natalie Coughlin at less than her best a good move? And hey, we have a men’s relay that Michael is fast enough only for the prelim team (Yoy!), which is itself only 1.5 seconds off of the world record! (And double Yoy!! Jim, you should relate to that one.) By how much do you think the A team is going to beat the record?
Matt
This moronic Biondi vs. Popov vs. everyone else “debate” has gone far enough! In an earlier discussion thread, I warned everyone about the impossibility of “proving” who is the “best” swimmer. I predicted that when you go there, you will inevitably run out of superlatives about your favorite swimmer, and start talking down everyone else’s. The end result will be a lot of people who don’t know jack, or a best very little more than jack, making a lot of spurious and asinine criticisms of almost incomprehensibly accomplished athletes. As if on cue, here we are in the midst of what has to be one of, if not the, fastest swim meet in history, and are we talking about it? No, or maybe just a little. What we actually are talking about is a Mighty Mouse vs. Batman debate.
Let me just cut to the bottom line for everyone: Biondi is a multiple event/multiple Olympian, former world record holding swimmer of historical importance. Popov is a multiple event/multiple Olympian, current world record holding swimmer of historical importance. Let that sink in for a minute…could any conceivable difference in their abilities (if such could be measured, given they did not swim exactly the same events, and one had greater opportunities than the other on relays) matter one iota given all that they both have accomplished?!!!
So what do people think about Grant Hackett’s 1500? Will he make a run at the world record? Will he be tired enough for the rest of the field to make things interesting? And about Michael Phelps, other than being in the pool at the same time Ian Crocker was having his “Misty Hyman moment,” Phelps has done everything, and more, to earn the title of Superman or Spitz this meet. He has broken the old world record in every one of his events (twice in some). Think he has a sub-4:10 in him for tonight’s final in the 400 IM? And what about the U.S. Medley Relays. Was Natalie Coughlin at less than her best a good move? And hey, we have a men’s relay that Michael is fast enough only for the prelim team (Yoy!), which is itself only 1.5 seconds off of the world record! (And double Yoy!! Jim, you should relate to that one.) By how much do you think the A team is going to beat the record?
Matt